Ralph Lean figures it looks good on Mayor Rob Ford that he sticks by his friends, even if they cause him a bit of trouble.

Somebody said to me the other day, Rob Ford is the type of guy that when you’ve got a flat tire at three in the morning, you call and he’ll show up. Any other politician, when he had a problem with the drug guy last week, anybody I know would have said, geez I don’t know that guy. I heard of him, I met him once. What does Rob Ford say? I don’t throw my friends under the bus. And the people I talk to say, that’s pretty good. That’s pretty good.

Mr. Lean is a Toronto lawyer and political fundraiser who told the National Post’s Natalie Alcoba he’s still planning to support the mayor despite being troubled by some of his associates. And troubled he is. As he told Alcoba :

Q:So, the economic record trumps the fact that he may be hanging out with a drug dealer?

Lean: That’s a bad question. I guess if I had to make a decision, I would say the economic record for me is really, really important. That’s what a mayor is elected to do. But I am bothered by the other stuff. Trust me.

Torontonians should be more than troubled. The mayor’s list of dubious associates keeps getting longer, as do the reports tying them to the drug trade and other crimes.

There’s the infamous unseen video, in which the mayor is alleged to smoke crack cocaine, and which he insists doesn’t exist. There’s the photo of him hugging three guys on a driveway, two of whom have since been shot (one fatally) while the third was arrested and charged with drug trafficking. There’s Alexander Lisi, a sometimes “driver” for the mayor who was arrested last week and charged with trafficking marijuana, possession of proceeds of crime, and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Now we have Payman Aboodowleh, who, according to The Globe and Mail, was recruited under the alias “Peter Payman” by Mr. Ford to help coach his high school football team despite a violent past. According to the Globe, Mr. Aboodowleh worked as an “enforcer” for Mr. Lisi and has a history of violent crimes, including assaulting a peace officer, assaulting his brother and breaking and entering.

The Globe also reports that Mr. Lisi has been charged with 36 criminal offences since 1997, and convicted of six crimes, including assaulting an ex-girlfriend.

Mr. Ford professed astonishment at Mr. Lisi’s recent arrest: “He’s a friend, he’s a good guy, I don’t throw my friends under the bus,” he told a news conference. “He’s straight and narrow, never once seen the guy drink, never seen him once do drugs, so…I’m surprised, I’m actually shocked.”

Many of the same ordinary people who elected Mr. Ford struggle to keep their children away from the world of drugs and crime that seems to regularly enter his orbit.

The mayor, it has been well established, is not a sleek, sophisticated man. He’s badly overweight, he sometimes drinks too much, he makes dumb decisions that allow him to be portrayed as a bumbling buffoon. He’ll pose with anyone who asks, whether they’re a well-shod downtown penthouse-dweller or a grubby guy in a hoodie fresh off some grotty park bench. He’s his own worst enemy, and responds to the obvious questions his stumbles raise either by simple denial, or a refusal to talk. He doesn’t come from a leafy downtown neighbourhood or behave the way mayors of big important cities are generally expected to behave. He goes his own way, and his blue-collar image and attitudes endear him to many of the suburban voters who are his base of support.

But loyalty is one thing, and willful blindness another. Many of the same ordinary people who elected Mr. Ford struggle to keep their children away from the world of drugs and crime that seems to regularly enter his orbit. No one can control the paths their friends choose for themselves, but a mayor is responsible for enforcing law and order, no matter who the law applies to. There is also an obvious question that arises about the mayor’s judgement. A man who chooses to regularly associate with people who have records for drugs and violence shows a lack of prudence and common sense, or a concern for the example an elected official at that level is expected to show.

Mr. Ford does indeed have an economic record to boast of, but his public performance on other issues has long since past the point where he can be given the benefit of the doubt. He needs to clean up his act, and make clear that “friendship” in his books doesn’t include breaking the law. An old saying suggests a person can be judged by the company they keep; a man who can’t tell the difference between “a great guy” and a drug dealer isn’t fit for elected office.